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CONVOCATION 2013
College, Bishop Vann Welcome Class of 2017 and Three New Tutors
On Monday, August 26, 2013, a record 103 students matriculated as freshmen at Thomas Aquinas College — the Class of 2017, with members hailing from 4 countries, 23 states, and Puerto Rico.
The morning began with a Mass of the Holy Spirit in Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, with the Most Rev. Kevin Vann, Bishop of Orange (Calif.), presiding. Following the Mass, students, faculty, and staff convened in St. Joseph Commons for the Matriculation Ceremony. There, the freshmen formally enrolled as students, and the College welcomed three new tutors: Dr. Sean Cunningham, Dr. Katherine Gardner, and Dr. Paul Shields. All three made the Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity, as do all members of the College’s teaching faculty. Dr. McLean then proclaimed the start of the new academic year and, in keeping with campus tradition, the students responded with loud applause.
Full story and slideshows 
Bishop Vann’s homily
President McLean’s Convocation Address
Bishop Vann’s Matriculation Address
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TOPS FOR ACADEMICS & VALUE
U.S. News Gives College High Marks
in 2014 Rankings
In the newly released 2014 edition of its Best Colleges guide, U.S. News & World Report places Thomas Aquinas College in the top third of the top tier of all American liberal arts colleges. It also praises the College’s financial aid program, listing the school as No. 21 among its Top 40 Best Value Colleges nationwide — the only Catholic institution to be ranked on this list.
In discussing the basis for this “Best Value” ranking, U.S. News explains that it “takes into account a school’s academic quality…. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal.” It adds that “only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included, because U.S. News considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically.”
Full story
Other college-guide reviews
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NEW SISTERS AND SEMINARIANS
Four more recent graduates pursue priesthood and religious life
Four more young graduates have recently taken steps toward lives of service to the Church! On July 26, the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Sarah Kaiser (’02) made her first profession of vows in the Carmel of Our Mother of Mercy and St. Joseph, Alexandria, S.D. Her name in religion is Sr. Anne Therese of the Child Jesus. Less than a week later, Elisabeth Sedler (’09) — now Sr. Juan Jose — entered the novitiate for the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, on August 1.
On August 19, Derek Remus (’11) entered St. Joseph’s Seminary in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, as a seminarian for the Diocese of Calgary. “Certainly coming to the College has helped me in my vocation discernment,” he remarked at the time of his graduation. “Studying St. Thomas, philosophy, and theology has increased my love of the intellectual life and has made me think more about a kind of teaching and preaching vocation in the priesthood.”
The College has also received word that Conor Bopp (’12) is a first-year student at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, where he is studying for the Diocese of Omaha. His time at the College, he writes on the diocesan website, “disposed me toward hearing God’s call in my junior year.”
Sr. Anne Therese of the Child Jesus (’02)
Sr. Juan Jose (’09)
Derek Remus (’11)
Conor Bopp (’12)
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IN MEMORIAM
Msgr. George J. Parnassus, 1927 – 2013
When Thomas Aquinas College officials were planning the construction of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, a longtime friend, Msgr. George J. Parnassus, stepped forward to make a magnificent gift. He would pay for the construction and installation of the massive bronze doors that stand at the Chapel’s main entrance.
It was a fitting choice. In their design, strength, and size, the doors convey a sense of beauty, stability, and welcome — qualities characteristic of both the Church and this faithful priest who served it for more than 60 years. In his humility, Msgr. Parnassus made this gift anonymously, but with his death on August 17, the story of his generosity can now be told ...
Full story
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THE CHURCH AS A SOURCE OF WISDOM
Why We Study Papal Encyclicals
By Dean Brian T. Kelly
Thomas Aquinas College is a great books program, but in a brief sequence near the end of Senior Seminar, we ask the students to read and discuss several Church documents as a way to introduce them to an authoritative source of Church teaching. Here our Catholic character leads us to depart a little from the great books model. We may be a great books program, but we are a Catholic program first and foremost. In order to orient ourselves most fruitfully toward wisdom and to live the intellectual life in an authentically Catholic way, we must submit our minds to the Church.
When you ask the founders why we make room in the Senior Seminar for encyclicals, they speak of the importance of being properly disposed to the Magisterium. They also stress the need for our students to get at least a taste of how the Church addresses the kinds of questions that we discuss in our classrooms, and how the Church reacts to powerful intellectual movements.
Full Story
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